Modern Warfare 2 arrives on November 10 and GameStop is one of the companies set to benefit a lot from the launch. The brick and mortar retailer, which has been threatened by the development of digital distribution services, needs this king of big releases to get people in the store and to consolidate its position in the sales world.

Tony Bartel, who is the executive vice president in charge of merchandising and marketing at the retailer, told a host of media outlets that “By all indicators, we anticipate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of 2009, as well as the biggest video game launch in GameStop’s history.” He also estimated that the game would be selling better on launch than both Call of Duty: World at War, which moved 2 million copies in the first month on sale, and the first Modern Warfare.

The release of Modern Warfare 2, which is developed by Infinity Ward and arrives on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and the PC, is so big that some companies have preferred to delay the dates for their own games rather than compete with the first person shooter. In addition to initial sales, Modern Warfare 2 will also be important to GameStop when it enters the used games market, the segment from where the company generates most of its profit.

Modern Warfare 2 will continue, in some ways, the narrative threads of the first iteration in the series, with some old faces returning and the threat of terrorism looming large over the entire world. The game has already caused quite a bit of controversy, with a leaked video showing the main characters engaged in an airport assault alongside a terrorist group. Since then, Activision said that players could skip that section of the title.